Brooklyn's Progress
August/September 2006

Financial assistance from various government sources is available to small businesses impacted by the July blackout.  The 10-day power outage affected thousands of New York City area residents and businesses, especially food retailers that rely on perishable items and clean water.

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, through the Brooklyn Business Solutions Center, supported the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) in providing assistance to Queens businesses affected by the blackout.  Daniel Fisher, Director of Financial Services at the Brooklyn Business Solutions Center joined other small business financing experts on July 27, to help small business owners in northwest Queens apply for emergency loans provided by SBS.  Affected small businesses can apply for SBS loans up to $10,000 at a rate of 2% until Oct. 31, 2006.

Federal assistance is available from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which recently announced that Queens County and contiguous counties of Kings, New York, Bronx and Nassau have been declared a disaster area as a result of the blackout.  The new SBA Administrator, Steven Preston, was joined by Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-12), Ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, during a visit to local businesses affected by the blackout.  The SBA is offering impacted small businesses disaster relief loans up to $1.5 million at 4% interest and terms up to 30 years.

“The environment for small businesses is already challenging – with rising energy costs, health care and interest rates,” Congresswoman Velázquez said. “The timing of these power outages turned an already trying situation into a full blown disaster for these entrepreneurs.  Our small businesses will now be able to access the critical assistance they need in order to make a full recovery and avoid any devastating downfalls as a result of these outages.”

For more information about emergency loans and other financial assistance for small businesses impacted by the blackout, contact the Brooklyn Chamber’s Director of Financial Services Daniel Fisher at 718-875-1000 ext. 114, or at dfisher@brooklynchamber.com.